Chapter 886: Chapter 842: The Liberation Army Has Arrived Chapter 886: Chapter 842: The Liberation Army Has Arrived The road ahead, as Wu Li had anticipated, beca increasingly difficult to traverse. In fact, the ten kiloters ahead could be said to have completely lost any semblance of a road.
The destructive force of the massive earthquake is not sothing ordinary people can imagine. The mountain roads ahead were essentially gone. Huge rocks, mounds of earth, and disorderly trees were scattered everywhere. With each step forward, utilizing both hands and feet was necessary, making progress painstakingly slow.
The final ten kiloters took Nie Zhenbang and his companions over four hours to traverse—it was a delay nobody had anticipated.
At one o’clock in the morning, they were only ten kiloters away from the Yizhou urban area. After resting for more than an hour, when they finally saw the Yizhou urban area at the foot of the mountain, it was already 6:20 in the morning, and the distant sky was beginning to lighten.
At this mont, the scene that t their eyes left Nie Zhenbang and the soldiers beside him utterly stunned.
When Nie Zhenbang ca to take office in Bashu, he traveled through the entire province of Bashu. He had also visited Yizhou City.
In Nie Zhenbang’s mory, Yizhou City, although only slightly larger than a county town in terms of urban area among the prefecture-level cities, was well-equipped, with no shortage of buildings.
But now, Yizhou had beco a pile of ruins; looking out, only about a dozen buildings in the whole urban area were still standing, isolated.
One building had even collapsed on one side. The entire building seed on the verge of collapse, like a dissected architectural model.
On the road leading out of the city, many of the common folk could be seen supporting each other, their faces covered in dust, step by step, they moved towards the outside of the mountains.
From ti to ti, so people could be seen crying as they walked.
The sight deeply moved Nie Zhenbang. Such a scene could not be truly understood unless witnessed firsthand. He said to the person beside him, “Hurry up, go forward and inquire about the situation in the city.”
As Nie Zhenbang and his group erged from the mountain path, the national road that originally led to Yizhou City was unrecognizable as a road; massive chunks of concrete were either jutting out at one end or had collapsed into depressions.
The expression of the passersby they encountered was lifeless. Without a goal, without hope, when they saw Nie Zhenbang’s group, the people sitting by the roadside got to their feet.
Suddenly, a male voice in the crowd shouted angrily, “The People’s Liberation Army has arrived! The People’s Liberation Army has arrived; we’re saved!”
This was a cry from the depths of their hearts. From a psychological perspective, when people are in their most dire and helpless monts, the ones they most believe in are those they most eagerly hope to appear.
This shout brought the silent Yizhou to a complete boil.
From yesterday until now, more than eighteen hours had passed. The people of Yizhou, after experiencing initial disorientation, helplessness, and fear, just when their spirits were about to collapse, the People’s Liberation Army arrived, the nation arrived, it was like a much-needed rain after a long drought, invigorating their spirits. Everyone stopped hesitating; everyone had found their backbone.
This shouting, like a relay baton, spread out, reaching every corner of Yizhou City.
At this ti, after a night filled with constant aftershocks, all of the surviving common people still did not know what to do. Suddenly, these shouts brought hope, and the people of Yizhou all started to join in the cries.
In Yizhou City
At what used to be Yizhou Square, the square now was filled with most of the refugees from Yizhou. Xing Guofeng, the deputy mayor of Yizhou, stepped out of a tent constructed temporarily from wood or scaffolding.
Looking into the distance, Xing Guofeng said in a deep voice, “Horse, what’s going on? Have the troops arrived?”
Horse, the secretary of Xing Guofeng, seeing the hollowed eyes and bloodshot vision of Xing, approached with concern and said, “Mr. Mayor, please take a rest. You haven’t closed your eyes for a whole day.”
Xing Guofeng waved his hand dismissively and said angrily, “Horse, what are you talking about? Is this the ti to rest? Quickly, go and call over Chief Chang from the municipal public security bureau, and let’s go welco the comrades from the troops together.”
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On the outskirts of Yizhou City’s urban area, Nie Zhenbang and the mbers of the commando team watched these common folk and saw the smiles on their faces. At this mont, everyone’s spirit was elevated.
At this mont, every soldier understood the true aning of defending their ho and country. It was no longer a re slogan; it embodied the profound hopes of the people.
Nie Zhenbang stepped forward, took the hand of a local villager, and asked urgently, “Fellow villager, we’ve arrived, I’m sorry, we are late. How is the situation in the city?”
As soon as the man began to speak about the situation in the city, the smile vanished from his face, and he suddenly squatted down, his voice carrying a sob, “It’s all gone, everything has collapsed, the entire city has fallen, and the children have been buried. The hospital collapsed, the governnt collapsed. They’re all buried. People’s Liberation Army comrade, you must save them. You have to save them.”
Nie Zhenbang felt an unprecedented weight in his heart at this mont. Turning his head, Nie Zhenbang said in a deep voice, “All units, march at the double toward Yizhou Urban Area, straight ahead.”
At this mont, the common folk who were walking step by step away from the disaster halted. They stood still, witnessing this scene, watching the thin ranks of thirty-so soldiers. The man who first shouted that the People’s Liberation Army had co spoke out again, “Folks, brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts, please stop and listen to . The People’s Liberation Army has arrived, and surely, the main force will be marching toward us soon. Folks, our relatives, our friends are currently buried under the rubble, crying out in pain. Can we really bring ourselves to leave them behind?”
The man’s voice rang out between heaven and earth, heartfelt, causing all the fleeing masses to stop in their tracks, so deep in thought.
The sa man continued, “Folks, when disaster strikes a region, aid cos from all corners. At this ti, can we bear to watch our loved ones part from us? We need to rescue them. The People’s Liberation Army is here; what do we have to fear?”
As his words ended, a voice nearby shouted, “Let’s go back, let’s go back to rescue people with the People’s Liberation Army!”
Nie Zhenbang wasn’t aware of this scene, but along the way, the previously lifeless villagers suddenly turned around and began running towards the city of Yizhou.
In under ten minutes from the foot of the mountain to Yizhou City, the local people of Yizhou who had already received the news had gathered there. At the forefront, Yizhou City’s Deputy Mayor Xing Guofeng and the Chief of the Yi Zhou City Public Security Bureau Chang Weiguo stood among the crowd.
Seeing the approaching People’s Liberation Army, the two n ca forward. Xing Guofeng said, “People’s Liberation Army comrades, which unit are you from? I am Xing Guofeng, the Deputy Mayor of Yizhou City People’s Governnt, and this is Chang Weiguo, the Chief of the Yi Zhou City Public Security Bureau.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Nie Zhenbang took off his military cap, revealing his neatly cropped hair, his resolute expression complenting his firm deanor as he surveyed the crowd of survivors, whose faces all looked visibly distressed. Dirty and disordered were the typical states, yet at this mont, every face was filled with hope.
Nie Zhenbang spoke clearly, “Xing Guofeng, where are the other leaders from the Yizhou city committee? Where did Wei Dayong go?”
Upon seeing Nie Zhenbang, Xing Guofeng was montarily stunned. Nie Zhenbang’s words completely awakened him. Xing Guofeng had been present the last ti Governor Nie had co to Yizhou for an inspection. Although he hadn’t spoken directly to Governor Nie, he knew what the governor looked like.
Disbelieving, he looked at Nie Zhenbang and said, “Governor… Nie?”
Once he spoke, the lead officer from the commando team said, “Comrade, you are not mistaken, this is Nie Zhenbang, the Governor of Bashu Province. To reach the disaster area as quickly as possible, Governor Nie marched over eighty kiloters with us on foot last night. He hasn’t rested all night and hurried over.”
“Governor Nie, Governor Nie is here.”
“Folks, Governor Nie is here, the nation hasn’t forgotten us. The nation hasn’t abandoned us. Governor Nie is here.”
“Governor Nie, a good official indeed. To have walked over a hundred li through the mountains, that’s not sothing just anyone can endure.”
The crowd completely erupted. If the arrival of the People’s Liberation Army had given them a strong sense of hope, then the appearance of Nie Zhenbang was like a powerful stimulant to the heart, filling everyone with confidence.
Xing Guofeng and Chang Weiguo approached and Xing Guofeng said, “Governor, yesterday morning, the permanent committee of Yizhou City committee convened a regular eting, and all the committee mbers at ho are now buried under the rubble.”
Hearing this, Nie Zhenbang’s heart sank. They were still too late. He had not expected that the leadership of the Yizhou city committee would be buried, and it was unimaginable how the common people had survived until now without the guidance of governnt workers, without a strong command organization.
After a mont of silence, Nie Zhenbang said in a deep voice, “Comrade Xing Guofeng, spare the unnecessary words. Tell , what is the current situation in Yizhou City, and what are the casualty numbers?” (
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